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A handbook of Ramadan

Ramadan is a month of Salat, duas, forgiveness, repentance and abstaining from our worldly desires. We have a mere 30 days period to strengthen our bond with the lord of the worlds, and hence we better be shrewd to make the most of this month— and wallow in an array of activities for a better afterlife. Here are a few handy tips to make a really nice use of the month of Ramadan.

EAT MODERATELY: Ramadan is a single month in a whole long year where every good act we perform is rewarded, so we better take a good advantage of this month. If we indulge in unwanted heavy eating it leads to a host of uncomfortable feelings—from a bloated tummy to a heinous headache which leave us weak for our night prayers especially the taraweeh prayers. Having a light iftar meal followed by an even simpler supper really helps us to go a long way for the night schedule. Try including fresh and healthy foods and spare the body all the junk food. Islam teaches us to be moderate in any act we perform be it shopping or eating for that matter. So go easy on the food section and gear yourself for some real good emaan-boosting stuff.

DO NOT BE A COUCH-POTATO: “Time cannot be recycled”, and this is true to every extent. Take a good advantage of the holy month and occupy yourself in dhikr of the almighty rather than being a couch-potato. Now this does not definitely mean that we have to pack up our home theatre and stock them in the store-room— we can spend a teeny-weeny amount of time in refreshing ourselves from a hectic schedule by watching some light-hearted comedies, as surely those dramatic soap-operas can wait till the next month.

LIMIT THE USE OF SOCIAL-MEDIA: Allah(swt) has promised us that every single act of worship shall be multiplied by seventy times in Ramadan, this is the time to stack up on rewards for our acts. Hence we better not squander away the precious moments in front of the necessary evil(computer) —particularly the youth of today. Updating every single detail of your life on Facebook and twitter can wait, rather update your relationship with your creator straight way because you never know when it is too late.

INCREASE YOUR SALAT: Ramadan is a beloved month of spiritual cleanliness— a time to reflect upon the build up of toxic feelings within us, a time to nourish our relation with our creator and increase our amount of prayers.In addition to the fard(obligatory) and sunnah(optional) prayers increase the amount of your nafl(supererogatory prayers) salat. Pray to thank Allah for all the blessings he bestowed on us, pray to ask him for things that are dear to you. We should perform our salat as if we stand before Allah with a fear in our heart that this might be our last salat.

RECITE THE HOLY QURAN: Try to recite the holy Quran on a regular basis, or more so try to complete the recitation of the whole of the holy book in the month of Ramadan. We should also try to learn certain extracts of the Quran by the heart alongside its elucidation. It’s just not reciting the holy book that matters but what is more important is to learn to act per the word laid down by Allah(swt) in the holy book.

MAKE LOTS OF DUA: Ramadan is a time to increase the amount of what we ask Allah— make lots and lots of dua— dua for yourself, dua for your parents, dua for forgiveness of your wrongdoings, dua for the poor and less fortunate, dua for our brothers and sisters in the war-torn countries rather dua for the unity of the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad(saw).Cry in your supplications to the lord, because a dua with tears in the eyes is all the more powerful. “Dua is the weapon of the believer”, and Allah(swt) is so delighted to see his servants asking for something in this revered month that he shall surely proclaim “Kun faya kun”!!!

As the saying goes— “Little drops of water make the mighty ocean”, in the same manner little deeds of emaan fill up our accounts written by the angel on our right hand. Ramadan is a very good time to start up on improving ourselves.